Cheese: New, Improved and Healthier

We love cheese. According to the International Dairy Federation, Brussels, Belgium, 2004 U.S. consumption averaged 31.2 lbs. of cheese per person. It continues to grow: In 1980, per-person consumption was at 18 lbs., but is projected to reach 34 lbs. by 2015.

Not only is cheese popular, it’s basically healthy, and exceptionally high in protein and calcium. The USDA nutrient database assigns 114 calories, 7 grams of protein, 204 mg of calcium, and 145 mg of phosphorous to a 1-oz. serving of Cheddar. Because calcium levels meet the 20% or more of the Daily Value (DV) per reference amount, Cheddar, as well as many other cheeses, can carry a “high source” nutrient content claim. It can be labeled “good source” of phosphorous and protein falling within the 10% to 19% DV at about 14% each.

There’s one drawback: the same serving of Cheddar also has 9.4 grams of fat, including 5.98 grams of saturated fat. That translates to potentially 4,692 grams— or 10.34 lbs.—of fat per year based on average consumption. Therefore, to create healthier cheeses, an obvious step is reducing fat content or, at least, reducing cheese’s fat contribution to other products. But product designers can find other ways of increasing cheese’s goodness, such as adding other nutrients or enhancing the natural nutrient content.

High marks for flavor 

To lower a dish’s overall fat, product designers might use strongly flavored cheeses to reduce the cheese content. Some cheeses are so abundantly flavorful that small amounts can be intensely satisfying. A bit of Roquefort delivers such richness that people tend not to overeat when it is served as a table cheese. Now, think of a pizza topped with walnuts and blue cheese versus a simple mozzarella—it’s hard to imagine eating the same quantity of strong blue cheese.

In cheese, bigger, bolder flavors are the new flavor trend. “Cheeses like blue, feta, Parmesan, Brie and Asiago” are growing, notes Marilyn Wilkinson, director, national product communications, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Madison. “The more-flavorful cheeses on the whole tend to be aged cheeses or washed-rind cheeses, which are also aged.” Washed rinds are typically rubbed with a saline solution, beer, cider, brandy or oil during ripening, and she has seen certain cheeses rubbed with cocoa. A particularly flavorful brine-washed example is limburger.

Aging brings out more flavor. Parmesan may be aged for 10 or 18 months. Gruyère is aged a minimum of 90 days. Cheddar may be aged two years. During aging, the bacteria, mold and yeast in cheese change its flavor and texture and provide a potentially beneficial side effect: lactose reduction. “Most cheeses aged for at least 60 days contain very low lactose levels,” says Wilkinson. “In addition, soft-ripened cheese such as Brie and Camembert contain very low lactose levels.”

Coincidentally, aged cheese seems to go hand in hand with an aging population. Barbara Gannon, vice president, corporate and marketing communications, Sargento, Plymouth, WI, notes the growing popularity of sharp and extra-sharp Cheddar cheese: “I think as our population is aging, bolder flavors are becoming more popular. As we age our taste buds are less acute.”

Combining cheeses and including an aged cheese can boost flavor and reduce the amount used in formulas. Wilkinson also recommends using a grated or shredded cheese to maximize the cheese flavor throughout the dish.

Frequently, people combine “an aged Parmesan or Parmesan-type cheese with a reduced-fat mozzarella,” says Gannon. “If you use a small amount of an aged Cheddar instead of a mild Cheddar, you don’t have to use as much to get a lot of flavor. That works out great if you want to control the total fat content of a product, because what people are really looking for is flavor.”

Flavoring the shorter-aged cheeses, like Monterey Jack or brick, with other ingredients can boost flavor. “We have one that has morel mushrooms,” says Wilkinson. Monterey Jack’s buttery background is friendly to a variety of ingredients, including herb, chile and smoke-type flavors, she says.

Natural cheese must meet federal standards of identity that specify the ingredients, composition and production procedures, including milk pasteurization or a ripening period. Every natural cheese has four ingredients says Gannon: “There’s milk, cheese cultures, enzymes and salt.”

A pinch of salt 

Consumers are looking for lower-sodium products. However, sodium does not just add flavor, it also has functional properties. “Cheeses have inherently different salt levels,” says Gannon. “For example, Swiss, by its nature, is one of the lowest-sodium natural cheeses; it just doesn’t require as much salt in the process to develop its characteristic flavor, texture and color. Mozzarella is brined in the process. It’s actually sitting in a bath of water and salt.”

Reducing the salt will affect cheese texture. “People who are concerned with sodium might be better off with a smaller quantity of a really sharp, flavorful cheese than a larger quantity of a cheese that perhaps is not quite as flavorful, because it’s difficult to control the salt level without changing your product,” says Gannon.

Hold the fat 

The high level of saturated fat in cheese isn’t looked on too kindly in many quarters. Still, some cheeses are naturally lower in fat than others. “Cow’s milk contains fewer calories and less fat than sheep or goat milk,” says Wilkinson. Eight ounces of whole cow’s milk has 146 calories, 7.93 grams of fat and 4.50 grams of saturated fat. Sheep’s milk has 265 calories, 17.15 grams of fat and 11.28 grams of saturated fat. Goat milk falls between the two with 168 calories, 10.10 grams of fat and 6.50 grams of saturated fat.

Therefore, switching milks can lead to a lower-fat, healthier cheese. Traditional Greek feta is made from sheep’s milk, but U.S. feta is made from cow’s milk. Greek Kasseri may be made with sheep’s milk or a blend of sheep’s and cow’s milk. Chèvre is made from goat’s milk. Furthermore, lower-fat cheeses may be made from skim milk—mozzarella, for example. Ricotta is made from cooked mozzarella curds. Partskim ricotta has 3.23 grams of protein and 2.24 grams of fat per 1-oz. serving. Part-skim mozzarella has 6.88 grams of protein and 4.51 grams of fat.

“Light- and reduced-fat-cheese sales have increased a total of 6.4% over the past five years, with the biggest increase in sales, 16.3%, from 2004 to 2005,” Wilkinson says. “Low-fat-cheese sales have decreased 4.1% over the past five years; however sales of low-fat cheese have increased over the past two years.”

Before reducing fat, remember that fat impacts flavor, texture and functionality. “A reduced-fat cheese is going to have a slightly different texture if you eat it cold,” says Gannon. “It tends to have a little firmer, or chewier, bite,” and also can have a slightly different melt characteristic. She suggests combining a reduced-fat cheese with a higher-moisture ingredient. “In pizza, for example, tomato sauce provides moisture,” she says. “With the reduced-fat cheese on top, you end up with a very palatable result.” Also, using reduced fat-cheeses eliminates the oiling-off often found in traditional cheeses, improving appearance.

One-third fat reduction has the highest acceptance among consumers and food manufacturers. It “still has a good flavor. It still tastes and acts like cheese,” Gannon says. “Going to a 50% reduction seemed to be too much for most people. It often becomes very dry, because you don’t have the same fat-to-protein ratio to give it the characteristic texture.”

The best solution for reduced-fat applications is high-flavor technology imbedded in the cheese products, suggests Pamela Schoenster, associate principal scientist, Kraft Food Ingredients, Memphis, TN. “That allows for high impact and low usage,” she says. “This lower use rate allows lower fat and sodium levels to be delivered in the finished application while still maintaining good flavor delivery.

Many times, the reduced-fat cheese does not have a good, well-developed flavor, so the customer finds themselves having to use more cheese than desired.” High-flavor cheeses also can optimize cost.

Historically, one of the challenges for low-fat cheeses was good flavor development, notes Dean Sommer, cheese and food technologist, Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, Madison. A recent study looked at “an aged low-fat Cheddar application that was 50% reduced,” he says. “We used Enzobact, a specific Lactobacillus that’s heat-treated. When you apply some heat to it, the bacteria loses its ability to produce acid, but it retains a lot of its enzymatic functions that play a role in flavor development.

We wanted the flavor attributes of the organism, but not the acid, and it worked.” The resulting product was a table cheese.

“We know functionality is important,” Sommer continues. “John Lucey, Ph.D., at the University of Wisconsin, has done amazing work on how to make 0% fat or low-fat cheeses that have functionality, melting, mouthfeel and are virtually indistinguishable from traditional cheese. He is reporting on, but hasn’t published, that work yet. It’s amazing how he’s been able to control that cheese matrix and get a product that has the melting and functionality.”

According to Sommer, these new cheeses do not form a skin when melted. They do not get translucent. And they do not get sticky. “Ultimately, these might not be used as a table cheese, but it will be great for use as an ingredient in foods,” he says.

A culture of health 

Bacterial cultures are essential to cheese. The type used depends on the type of cheese and is critical to the cheese-making process, so there’s some caution to the prospect of adding other cultures. However, Sommer sees tremendous opportunity in using cheeses as a vehicle for prebiotics and probiotics: “Yogurt has been a standard of the industry, but cheese might be just as good or even better.”

Prebiotics act as food for probiotic organisms. “They are typically long-chain sugars,” Sommer notes. “A common prebiotic hooks galactose sugars in a longer chain. The potential for that is that, when incorporating those along with probiotics, you get better growth and sustainability of populations of probiotic organisms in the gut tract.”

Probiotics have been linked to improved gut health and enhanced immune strength. “The prebiotics have potential health benefits,” says Sommer. “In a classic one, sialic acid is hooked to a lactose prebiotic naturally occurring in milk and found in whey. Some of these prebiotics, like sialic acid hooked to these long-chain sugars, inhibit the attachment of pathogenic bacteria to the gut tract.” Some work shows certain prebiotics “will actually protect people from getting foodborne bacterial diseases,” he notes, “because they inhibit the ability of pathogenic bacteria to attach to the gut wall.”

Studies show that probiotic organisms survive nicely in cheese for a year or more. However, many different types of probiotics and different strains of bacteria exist. “Some will survive better than others in a cheese matrix,” Sommer adds. “Others might be better suited to yogurt. Lactobacillus casei is one that we’ve targeted for cheese.” However, not every L. casei is a probiotic. “Within casei, there are a number of them that are probiotic and bring healthy benefits to the dairy product,” he explains. “There are a number of them that survive very nicely in cheese. A lot of work has been done with Cheddar cheese and casei survival.”

Sommer believes the high protein content of cheese—higher than yogurt’s—makes it ideal for probiotics and prebiotics. Plus, “it has a very good buffering capacity,” he says. “Perhaps it can buffer some of the stomach acids and give better survivability to these probiotics, as they pass through the gastrointestinal tract of people even better than yogurt.”

Added nutrients 

Sommer notes that, while we understand the basic nutritional aspects of dairy products, “what are some of the next-level healthy benefits of milk, like prebiotics and probiotics, that we don’t fully understand?” He believes adding other types of healthy ingredients would be the next step.

Many people believe all dairy products are naturally high in vitamin D. “That’s not true,” Sommer says. “Fluid milk is, but only because it is fortified and has been for a long time.” Traditionally, cheese has not been fortified with vitamin D. Kraft petitioned FDA and, in 2005, was granted a rule change allowing cheese and cheese products to be fortified with vitamin D at levels up to 89 IU per 100 grams. “One of the main functions of vitamin D is to aid in calcium absorption,” he continues. “Milk and dairy products are such a good source of calcium, it just makes sense that you’d want vitamin D and calcium together.” Still, many Americans do not get enough vitamin D.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been linked to improved heart health, enhanced immune function and body-fat reduction. While it is a trans fat—the term CLA describes one or more geometric isomers of linoleic acid—it is recognized by FDA as being naturally occurring and is exempt from trans-fat labeling. According to the National Dairy Council, Chicago, sharp Cheddar has 3.6 mg CLA per gram of fat and Muenster has 6.6 mg CLA per gram of fat.

CLA occurs naturally in milk, “but it is found in much higher levels in cows that are pastured naturally and graze on the open fields than in cows that are fed TMR (total mixed ration),” says Sommer. “It’s becoming more common where the cheese in the marketplace is identified from grazed cows. Those will be naturally higher in CLA than confinement-fed cows.” Adding CLA to cheese is expensive, so little work is currently being done in this area.

Omega-3 fatty acids like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are being added to retail mild Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses by Omega Farms, Hayward, CA. A 1-oz. serving has 75 mg of omega-3s. “We use cod oil, because it is naturally rich in EPA and DHA, which together give a heart-health benefit,” says Cindy DiFerdinand, corporate nutritionist and vice president of sales, Omega Farms. “It is completely taste- and odor-free. One of the primary health benefits of omega-3s are anti-inflammatory,” so they can benefit anything inflammatory in nature, from rheumatoid arthritis to arteriosclerosis, she says, but the heart-health benefit has been the most clinically researched and documented. Additionally, omega- 3s might enhance brain development and visual acuity. As a kidfriendly product, cheese may be a good vehicle for increasing children’s omega-3 consumption.

Analogue options 

Another potentially healthy direction is cheese analogues, soy-based, rice-based and casein-free cheese alternatives. Initially appearing in health food stores, they’ve moved steadily into mainstream supermarkets. Yet, they are often sold in the produce section rather than the dairy case.

Many people want cholesterol- and lactose-free cheese options, notes Hilary Taube, director of marketing, Galaxy Nutritional Foods, Orlando, FL. “Functionally, our cheese alternatives are very comparable to conventional cheese,” she says. “You do get a melt and the creamy mouthfeel. In making a pizza, for example, you do not get all the oil. You will get the melt and stretch.”

The shredded mozzarella-cheese alternative has 4 grams of fat per ounce, 6 grams of protein, and 0 grams of saturated fat. The products are available in bulk 20- and 25-lb. packages.

Whether analogues or dairy, cheese can provide healthy options. “Cheese is generally a very wholesome food,” says Wilkinson. “It’s natural. There’s minimal processing. These are issues that people are very interested in today.” 

Cindy Hazen, a 20-year veteran of the food industry, is a freelance writer based in Memphis, TN. She can be reached at [email protected].